Stafford's silent night shattered with sound of shots fired

A call of "Shots fired," broke the silence of Christmas night in Stafford, Tuesday.

Terry Spradley

A warning shot discharged from a 9mm handgun shattered the silence of Stafford's Christmas night, Tuesday.

According to Doug Brown, Stafford's chief of police, the incident that culminated with the firing of a warning shot from a resident started earlier in the evening.

"Monday evening our officer (Josh Green) got called to the 200 block of west Broadway because Jeff Wiltshire had left his (Leonard Harold's) house and said he was going to go home and get his shotgun and come back and kill him (Harold,)" Brown said.

Brown stated earlier that evening, Wiltshire a 36-year-old Stafford resident showed some individuals a sulfuric acid bomb he had built with Doug Brown's name written on it.

"He is on of our frequent flyers," Brown said. "This is probably one of the first Christmas's in a long time he wasn't spending in jail."

According to Brown they have had numerous encounters with Wiltshire, most directed at Brown including throwing metal manhole covers through Brown's window and doing over $3,000 damage to one of his vehicles when Wiltshire head butted it while Brown was backing out of his garage.

Brown stated that Wiltshire had return to Harold's residence and started throwing bricks through the front window of the home, which had several occupants inside. Brown said the individuals inside took cover at first because they thought Wiltshire was shooting at the windows with a shotgun. Once they realized he was throwing bricks through the window they went outside to confront him.

"They went out the front door and he took off," Brown said. "They chased him over here to south Union where Wiltshire ended up on the guy's front porch. The guy inside the house didn't know what was going on… so he comes out of the house with people running around everywhere and tells the people to stop and get off his property. He tells them three times then fires off a shot from a 9mm."

Brown stated that officer Green was already on the scene because of 911 calls from the resident on Broadway Street, but the individual in the residence on south Union was not aware of that because the squad car's flashing lights were not on.

The name of the individual that fired the warning shot has not been released. Brown said he will probably be facing charges for discharging the weapon.

Wiltshire was arrested and taken to Barton County Jail. He is currently facing charges of aggravated battery, criminal threats, and criminal damage to property.

EMS responders checked out at least one individual with injuries from the flying bricks.